Dmitry Pirog Defeats Maciel Over 12 Rounds, Retains WBO Title and Perfect Record

Today's fight between Dmitry Pirog (17-0) and Javier Francisco Maciel (18-1) will be broadcast live on the ESPN3 website at 11:45a.m. E.T.

The WBO Middleweight World Championship is on the line in Ekaterinberg, Russia.

Undercard bout: Andrey Berdyshev (5-0, 1 KO) vs. Felix Diaz (8-0, 5 KO)

Round 1—Strong attack by the Russian, but Diaz' shots are accurate and more damaging. 10-9 Diaz

Round 2—Berdyshev lands one good shot, but is missing with the follow up punches while Diaz counters with his own shots. 10-9 Diaz

Round 3—Brutal left hook puts Berdyshev down halfway through the round. Diaz jumps on his opponent and the referee waves off the bout.

Official Result: Diaz wins via TKO at 1:39 of round number three.

Second undercard bout: Denis Bakhtov (33-5, 22 KO) vs. Vyachaslav Glazkov (8-0, 6 KO)

Round 1—Glazkov utilizing his jab well. Looks like the Ukrainian fighter is trying to copy his fellow countryman and heavyweight king Vitali Klitschko. 10-9 Glazkov

Round 2—Glazkov finally opens up with power punches this round and does some good work. Very good defense by Glazkov. 10-9 Glazkov

Round 3—Bakhtov lands a solid straight hand early that pushes Glazkov back. Lot of jabs landed by Glazkov, but I like Bakhtov's pressure. 10-9 Bakhtov

Round 4—Bakhtov lands a good left hook a minute into the round and looks tired. Glazkov continues his Klitschko-esque performance with jabs and defense. 10-9 Glazkov

Round 5—Straight punches land for Glazkov early. Two body shots follow. Bakhtov looks winded. 10-9 Glazkov

Round 6—Both fighters open up with a minute to go with Glazkov getting the better of the exchanges. 10-9 Glazkov

Round 7—Bakhtov lands a clean right hand. Glazkov lands one of his own late in the round. 10-9 Glazkov

Round 8—Last round of the heavyweight bout. Very sluggish end to a pretty lackluster fight. Klitschko brothers better watch out! Kidding. 10-9 Glazkov

TOTAL: 79-73 Glazkov

Official Result: All three judges score it 80-72 for Glazkov.

Third undercard bout: Alisher Rahimov (21-0, 11 KO) vs. Rustam Nugaev (21-5-1, 12 KO)

Round 1—Inside fighting throughout. Tough round to score. 10-9 Nugaev

Round 2—Rahimov opens up early and gets Nugaev to back into the ropes. All inside fighting again. Good exchanges by both fighters. 10-9 Rahimov

Round 3—Rahimov gets Nugaev to back up against the ropes late in the round and probably earns him the round. 10-9 Rahimov

Round 4—Rahimov is relentless when he gets inside Nugaev's longer reach. Perfect gameplan displayed by Rahimov to fight the taller boxer. Good combinations by Nugaev late. Nugaev opens up bigtime going down the stretch. 10-9 Nugaev

Round 5—Good back-and-forth round. Rahimov is landing very good counter shots, but Nugaev is throwing nonstop. 10-9 Nugaev

Round 6—Straight rights landing for Rahimov. Nugaev shows his toughness and fires right back. Nugaev looks like he's doing more damage, but he really isn't. 10-9 Rahimov

Round 7—Combinations by Rahimov push back Nugaev. Rahimov is taking over this round with accurate combinations and power punches. 10-9 Rahimov

Round 8—Rahimov back to boxing this round. Nugaev is outworking Rahimov this round, but there isn't much landing. Rahimov lands a four-punch combination that rocks Nugaev. That may have stole the round for Rahimov. 10-9 Rahimov

Round 9—Rahimov back to slugging inside. Nugaev is throwing more, but not being as effective. Left hook rocks Rahimov near end of the round. 10-9 Nugaev

Round 10—Extremely close fight going into the tenth. This round fought entirely on the inside. Nugaev lands a left hook that gets Rahimov's attention. Rahimov lands a right hand as Nugaev comes in. Very close round. 10-9 Nugaev

Round 11—Whoever wins the last two rounds win the fight. Great counter left hands by Rahimov and Nugaev shakes his head to acknowledge them. Rahimov backs Nugaev to the ropes with a combination. Rahimov's best round of the fight. 10-9 Rahimov

Round 12—Rahimov is all over Nugaev this round. Nugaev waves Rahimov in after getting stunned late in the round.  Last two rounds should seal the victory for Rahimov. 10-9 Rahimov

TOTAL: 115-113 Rahimov

Official Result: Judges score it 118-112, 118-113 and 116-112 all for Alisher Rahimov.

Main Event: Dmitry Pirog vs. Javier Francisco Maciel

Round 1—WBO middleweight title on the line. Easy round to score. Maciel didn't do anything in the round. Pirog controlled it with his aggression and movement. 10-9 Pirog

Round 2—Maciel finally opens up halfway through round. Pirog lands a left hook and uppercut. Pirog landed a bunch of body shots that will start to take their toll. 10-9 Pirog

Round 3—Pirog is looking for the right hand that knocked out Daniel Jacobs last July. It hasn't come yet, but the Russian has landed a good amount of body shots. Maciel really needs to open up. He is looking for one punch and swinging wide. Maciel lands a solid left hook late in the round. It may have stole the round. 10-9 Maciel

Round 4—Right hand staggers Maciel with one minute to go. Maciel opens up with a combination with nothing landing clean. 10-9 Pirog

Round 5—Halfway through round, and Maciel hasn't thrown a single significant punch. He finally fires a body shot. Pirog is all over him with a variety of punches and winning the round on activity alone. 10-9 Pirog

Round 6—Maciel may have a chance if he throws, but he just doesn't do it enough. Nothing clean has really landed throughout the fight. 10-9 Pirog

Round 7—Once again, we're halfway through round and Maciel has thrown almost no punches. Maciel opens up late in the round to do some nice work. Close round. 10-9 Maciel

Round 8—Maciel lands hard right hands that makes Pirog retreat into the ropes. Pirog clinches twice and looks a little hurt. Left hook lands for Maciel. Two warnings issued to both fighters for low blows. 10-9 Maciel

Round 9—Pirog gets another warning for shoving Maciel with his shoulder. A point deduction could be big in this fight. Maciel had some success in this round, but Pirog landed a big right hand late in the final minute. Pirog looks frustrated, but he threw a lot more in this round. 10-9 Pirog

Round 10—Championship rounds could determine the winner. Another warning by the referee to Pirog. Pirog's work rate carrying the round. Pirog gets Maciel against the ropes and lands a series of punches that rocks the Argentinian-born fighter. Pirog gets a point deducted for shoulder shove. Tough break for Pirog, who had Maciel hurt. Maciel fires back, but is missing wildly. Good round for Pirog, but point deduction makes it even. 9-9 Pirog

Round 11—Pirog is all over Maciel early this round. Two left hooks land for Maciel. Maciel is showing way too much respect this late in the fight. 10-9 Pirog

Round 12—Pirog keeps the pressure on Maciel and surely has kept his undefeated record. 10-9 Pirog

TOTAL: 116-111 Dmitry Pirog

Official Result: Judges score it 115-112, 117-110 and 115-111 for Dmitry Pirog.